Opinions of Community Pharmacists About Collaboration with General Practitioners: A Descriptive Pilot Study After New Legislation in Turkey.

OBJECTIVES: Committed legal regulations in primary healthcare services have resulted in certain issues and requirements about community pharmacy practices in Turkey. A professional collaboration between general practitioners and pharmacists is essential for the continuity of care in primary care settings. Therefore, the aim of this was study to explore community pharmacists' opinions on collaborative care along with new primary care regulations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A web-based questionnaire was implemented during a period of five months to a voluntary sample of community pharmacists. The questionnaire consisted of multiple-choice questions that allowed participants to select more than one answer wherever appropriate.
RESULTS: One hundred ninety-seven community pharmacists responded to the questionnaire; 66% were younger than 39 years and had less than 15 years' experience in the profession. In general, the pharmacists are willing to be involved in maintaining continuity of care, especially in patient counselling. However, 10.7% of participants indicated that the main reasons for not being actively involved in patient care were 'mainly dealing with explaining prescription co-payment procedures' and 'having unfavorable attitudes of other healthcare professionals'. They believed that their contributions were restricted by laws and regulations (14.2%) as well as declined perceived reputation (53.8%) of the profession among the public.
CONCLUSION: Revealing misperceptions among patients and healthcare professionals, overcoming limitations of current practice and an understanding of each profession's responsibilities may lead to formation of a new and more effective model of care. ©Copyright 2018 Turk J Pharm Sci, Published by Galenos Publishing House.